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72-478: The ibis ( / ˈ aɪ b ɪ s / ) (collective plural ibises ; classical plurals ibides and ibes ) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the western cattle egret ( Bubulcus ibis ) mistakenly identified in 1757 as being

144-548: A 13 ft-long papyrus that contains texts from Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead . The papyrus scroll belonged to a man named Bu-Khaa-Af, whose name is written on it, on his sarcophagus, and on four ushabtis . Excerpts from the Book of the Dead were also painted onto the surface of other coffins. Also found in the shafts were wooden funerary masks, board games, a shrine dedicated to god of

216-454: A 36-foot (11-meter) deep burial shaft revealed almost 30 sarcophagi that had remained completely sealed since their interment. On 3 October 2020, Khalid el-Anany, Egypt's tourism and antiquities minister announced the discovery of at least 59 sealed sarcophagi with mummies more than 2,600 years old. Archaeologists also revealed the 20 statues of Ptah-Soker and a carved 35-centimeter tall bronze statue of god Nefertem . On 19 October 2020,

288-696: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes Saqqara Saqqara contains

360-420: A cache of 30 coffins with mummies was discovered, at the time Egypt's largest in more than a century and the first cache to be discovered by a solely Egyptian mission. The coffins were stacked on top of each other and arranged in two rows about three feet below the sandy surface. The first coffin's head was partially exposed in the sand, which led to the cache's discovery. Two of the coffins belonged to children,

432-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and

504-457: A depiction of a chapter of the Book of the Dead . In May 2022, the discovery of the nearly 4,300-year-old tomb of an ancient Egyptian high-ranked person who handled royal, sealed documents of pharaoh was announced. According to University of Warsaw ’s Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology , the elaborately decorated tomb belonged to a man named Mehtjetju who served as a priest and an inspector of

576-584: A different location for their pyramids . During the second half of the Old Kingdom , under the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, Saqqara was again the royal burial ground. The Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids are not built wholly of massive stone blocks, but instead with a core consisting of rubble. Consequently, they are less well preserved than the world-famous pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty kings at Giza . Unas ,

648-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that

720-579: A local Berber tribe called the Beni Saqqar, despite the fact that a tribe of this name is not documented anywhere. Medieval authors also refer to the village as Ard as-Sadr ( Arabic : ارض السدر , lit.   'land of the buckthorn'). The earliest burials of nobles can be traced back to the First Dynasty , at the northern side of the Saqqara plateau. During this time, the royal burial ground

792-499: A partly damaged wooden coffin . The last time a similar mask was found was in 1939. The eyes were covered with obsidian , calcite , and black hued gemstone possibly onyx . "The finding of this mask could be called a sensation. Very few masks of precious metal have been preserved to the present day, because the tombs of most Ancient Egyptian dignitaries were looted in ancient times." said Hussein. In September 2018, several dozen cache of mummies dating 2,000 years back were found by

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864-471: A rare occurrence in archeology. Mostafa Waziri , secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that one could identify the mummy's gender by the shape of the hands on the coffin, open hands being female and hands balled into fists being male. The colors of the coffin inscriptions---made from limestone, red oak, turquoise, and other natural stones mixed with eggwhites—stayed intact, and

936-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and

1008-612: A team of Polish archaeologists led by Kamil Kuraszkiewicz from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Warsaw . The Polish-Egyptian expedition works under the auspices of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw . Investigations were carried out for over two decades in the area to the west of the Djoser Pyramid. The most important discoveries include

1080-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)

1152-533: Is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in

1224-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds

1296-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After

1368-551: Is prominently displayed on the roof of the Harvard Lampoon Building at 44 Bow Street. The short story " The Scarlet Ibis " by James Hurst uses the red bird as foreshadowing for a character's death and as the primary symbol. The African sacred ibis is the unit symbol of the Israeli Special Forces unit known as Unit 212 or Maglan (Hebrew מגלן). According to Josephus, Moses used the ibis to help him defeat

1440-514: Is responsible for writing, mathematics, measurement, and time as well as the moon and magic. In artworks of the Late Period of Ancient Egypt , Thoth is popularly depicted as an ibis-headed man in the act of writing. However, Mitogenomic diversity in sacred ibis mummies indicates that ancient Egyptians captured the birds from the wild rather than farming them. At the town of Hermopolis , ibises were reared specifically for sacrificial purposes, and in

1512-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,

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1584-530: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for

1656-464: Is very important because it proves that Saqqara was the main burial of the 26th Dynasty ,” said Zahi Hawass , an Egyptologist and Egypt's former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. In January 2021, the tourism and antiquities ministry announced the discovery of more than 50 wooden sarcophagi in 52 burial shafts which date back to the New Kingdom period, each around 30 to 40 feet deep, and

1728-518: The Czech Institute of Egyptology , Mohamed Megahed, discovered a 4,000-year-old tomb near Egypt's Saqqara Necropolis . Archaeologists confirmed that the tomb belonged to an influential person named Khuwy, who lived in Egypt during the 5th Dynasty . "The L-shaped Khuwy tomb starts with a small corridor heading downwards into an antechamber and from there a larger chamber with painted reliefs depicting

1800-458: The Fifth Dynasty , and his wife, four children and mother. The tomb is about 33 feet (10 meters) long by 10 feet (3.0 meters) wide and has five burial shafts and a basement. It contains more than fifty sculptures, and is painted with scenes of the family, wine and pottery making, musical performances, sailing, hunting, and furniture making. On 13 April 2019, an expedition led by a member of

1872-715: The Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at

1944-583: The Pyramid of Unas and added an inscription to its south face to commemorate the restoration. He enlarged the Serapeum , the burial site of the mummified Apis bulls , and was later buried in the catacombs. The Serapeum, containing one undisturbed interment of an Apis bull and the tomb of Khaemweset, were rediscovered by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in 1851. During the periods after

2016-660: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on

2088-435: The University of Miami is an American white ibis named Sebastian . The ibis was selected as the school mascot because of its legendary bravery during hurricanes. According to legend, the ibis is the last of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to reappear once the storm has passed. Harvard University 's humor magazine, Harvard Lampoon , uses the ibis as its symbol. A copper statue of an ibis

2160-476: The laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species;

2232-402: The olive ibis and green ibis are also found in dense forests. The Llanos grasslands of Venezuela have the highest global ibis diversity with seven species sharing the marshes and grasslands. Multiple ibis species manage to use the same area by exhibiting differences in the habitats used and the prey eaten. In Indian agricultural landscapes, three ibis species manage to live together by altering

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2304-471: The red-naped ibis breeding inside cities. The Australian white ibis also breeds extensively inside cities and has greatly expanded its population. The white-faced ibis sometimes nests on dry land and on low shrubs in marshes. The African sacred ibis was an object of religious veneration in ancient Egypt , particularly associated with the deity Djehuty or otherwise commonly referred to in Greek as Thoth . He

2376-475: The sacred ibis . Ibises all have long, downcurved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans . They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons . All extant species are capable of flight , but two extinct genera were flightless, namely the kiwi-like Apteribis in the Hawaiian Islands , and

2448-479: The white-faced ibis , and black-headed ibis benefit from flooded and irrigated agriculture. The Andean ibis is unusual in being found in high altitude grasslands of South America. The foraging and nesting behaviour, and fluctuating numbers of the white ibis matches closely with water levels in the Everglades ecosystem leading to its selection as a potential indicator species for the system. Few ibis species such as

2520-528: The 5th and 6th dynasties, such as a priest inspector named Khnumdjedef, secret keeper called Meri and a judge and writer named Fetek. In April 2024, a rock-cut tomb dating back to the Second Dynasty was uncovered in Saqqara by a team of Japanese and Egyptian archaeologists. The tomb contained artifacts from various periods, spanning over the Late Period , the Ptolemaic period , and the 18th Dynasty . Among

2592-427: The 6th century BC – 1st century AD. Most of the bodies were poorly preserved and all organic materials, including the wooden caskets, had decayed. The tombs discovered most recently (in 2018) form part of the younger, so-called Upper Necropolis. Most of the mummies we discovered last season were very modest, they were only subjected to basic embalming treatments, wrapped in bandages and placed directly in pits dug in

2664-609: The Ethiopians. The Australian white ibis has become a focus of art, pop culture, and memes since rapidly adapting to city life in recent decades, and has earned the popular nicknames "bin chicken" and "tip turkey". In December 2017, the ibis placed second in Guardian Australia 's inaugural Bird of the Year poll, after leading for much of the voting period. In April 2022, Queensland sports minister Stirling Hinchliffe suggested

2736-662: The Ibis Galleries at Saqqara , archaeologists found the mummies of one and a half million ibises. According to local legend in the Birecik area, the northern bald ibis was one of the first birds that Noah released from the Ark as a symbol of fertility, and a lingering religious sentiment in Turkey helped the colonies there to survive long after the demise of the species in Europe. The mascot of

2808-563: The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of gilded, wooden statues and more than 80 coffins in three burial shafts. Officials believed the coffins contain senior officials and priests from the 26th Dynasty . In November 2020, archaeologists unearthed more than 100 delicately painted wooden coffins dating to the 26th Dynasty and 40 statues of the local goddess Ptah Soker. Other artifacts discovered include funeral masks, canopic jars and 1,000 ceramic amulets. “This discovery

2880-529: The New Kingdom, when several cities in the Delta served as capital of Egypt, Saqqara remained in use as a burial ground for nobles. Moreover, the area became an important destination for pilgrims to a number of cult centres. Activities sprang up around the Serapeum, and extensive underground galleries were cut into the rock as burial sites for large numbers of mummified ibises, baboons, cats, dogs, and falcons. Saqqara and

2952-700: The Saqqara site lies the Abusir pyramid complex, and to its south lies the Dahshur pyramid complex, which together with the Giza Pyramid complex to the far north comprise the Pyramid Fields of Memphis , or the Memphite Necropolis , which was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary deity, Sokar , but from

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3024-419: The ancient necropolis of Saqqara. Three of the tombs were used for cats, some dating back to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, while one of four other sarcophagi was unsealed. Among the dozens of cat mummies were 100 wooden and gilded statues of cats and one in bronze dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet, and funerary items dating back to the 12th Dynasty . Another of the seven tombs belongs to Khufu-Imhat,

3096-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from

3168-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition

3240-467: The burial site next to the sacred temple of Anubis . It is thought that the mummified animals, mostly dogs, were intended to pass on the prayers of their owners to their deities. In July 2018, German-Egyptian researchers’ team head by Ramadan Badry Hussein of the University of Tübingen reported the discovery of an extremely rare gilded burial mask that probably dates from the Saite-Persian period in

3312-591: The country, and kings built their funerary complexes elsewhere. Few private monuments from this period have been found at Saqqara. During the New Kingdom , Memphis was an important administrative and military centre, being the capital after the Amarna Period. From the Eighteenth Dynasty onward, many high officials built tombs at Saqqara. While still a general, Horemheb built a large tomb here, although he later

3384-509: The dead Anubis , bird-shaped artifacts and a bronze axe. A limestone stelae dated to the reign of Ramesses II was found in one of the shafts, depicting the overseer of the king's military chariot Kha-Ptah and his wife Mwt-em-wia worshipping Osiris and sitting with six of their children. Also in January 2021, a team of archaeologists led by Zahi Hawass found the funerary temple of Naert or Narat and three warehouses made of bricks attached to

3456-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria   Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used

3528-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It

3600-605: The habitats they use seasonally with the Black-headed Ibises and Glossy preferring shallow wetlands throughout the year, while the endemic Red-naped Ibises preferred upland areas thereby entirely avoiding potential competitive interactions. Ibises breeding habits are very diverse. Many ibises such as the black-headed Ibis , scarlet ibis , glossy ibis , American white ibis and Australian white ibis breed in large colonies on trees. Nest trees are located either in large wetlands or in agricultural fields, with many species like

3672-480: The ibis as a potential mascot for the 2032 Olympic Games , which are scheduled to be held in Brisbane . Hinchcliffe's suggestion prompted much discussion in the media. [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of ibis at Wiktionary Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws,

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3744-578: The last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first king to adorn the chambers in his pyramid with Pyramid Texts . During the Old Kingdom, it was customary for courtiers to be buried in mastaba tombs close to the pyramid of their king. Thus, clusters of private tombs were formed in Saqqara around the pyramid complexes of Unas and Teti . From the Middle Kingdom onward, Memphis was no longer the capital of

3816-525: The mixture of egg yolk and candle wax spread over the coffins to make them shine was still visible, making this a unique find. On April 28, 2020, archeologists announced they had found a 30-foot-deep (9 meter) burial shaft containing five limestone sarcophagi, four wooden coffins with human mummies, and an array of other artifacts. Among them were 365 faience ushabti and a small wooden obelisk about 40 centimeters tall that had been painted with depictions of Horus , Isis and Nepthys . In September 2020,

3888-478: The monumental enclosure wall around the Step Pyramid complex. Djoser's funerary complex, built by the royal architect Imhotep , further comprises a large number of dummy buildings and a secondary mastaba (the so-called 'Southern Tomb'). French architect and Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer spent the greater part of his life excavating and restoring Djoser's funerary complex. Nearly all Fourth Dynasty kings chose

3960-591: The oldest complete stone building complex known in history, the Pyramid of Djoser, built during the Third Dynasty . Another sixteen Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in various states of preservation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the entire Pharaonic period . It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3000 years, well into Ptolemaic and Roman times. North of

4032-523: The only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds

4104-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved

4176-545: The overseer of buildings in the royal palace. Also in November 2018, a collection of rare mummified scarab beetles was unearthed in two sarcophagi, one of which was decorated with paintings of large black beetles. Also in November 2018, the Egyptian government announced the discovery at Saqqara of a previously unknown 4,400-year-old tomb. It belongs to Wahtye , a high-ranking priest who served under King Neferirkare Kakai during

4248-615: The peculiar Xenicibis in Jamaica . The word ibis comes from Latin ibis from Greek ἶβις ibis from Egyptian hb , hīb . There are 29 extant species and 4 extinct species of ibis. An extinct species, the Jamaican ibis or clubbed-wing ibis ( Xenicibis xympithecus ) was uniquely characterized by its club-like wings. Extinct ibis species include the following: Most ibises are freshwater wetland birds using natural marshes, ponds, lakes, riversides for foraging. Some ibis species such as

4320-528: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form

4392-465: The reign of Ramesses II , and of a military leader named Hor Mohib. In March 2022, five 4000-year-old tombs belonging to senior officials from the Old Kingdom and First Intermediary Period were discovered. On 30 May 2022, 250 sarcophagi and 150 statuettes were displayed at Saqqara, dated back to the Late Period more than 2,500 years ago, in addition to a 9-meter-long papyrus scroll which could be

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4464-491: The royal property. Kamil O. Kuraszkiewicz, expedition director stated that Mehtjetju most likely lived at about the same time, at some point during the reigns of the first three rulers of the Sixth Dynasty : Teti , Userkare and Pepy I . In January 2023, Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of four tombs at Saqqara including a 4,300-year-old mummy to a man named Hekashepes covered with gold, in addition to finds date back to

4536-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups.   Lizards & snakes   Turtles   Crocodiles   Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of

4608-618: The sand The research of the Polish-Egyptian expedition also focuses on the interpretation of the so-called Dry Moat, a vast trench hewn around the Djoser Pyramid. The most recent discoveries confirm the hypothesis that the Dry Moat was a model of the pharaoh's journey to the netherworld, a road the deceased ruler had to follow to attain eternal life. In November 2018, an Egyptian archaeological mission located seven ancient Egyptian tombs at

4680-545: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially

4752-422: The southeastern side for storage of temple provisions, offerings and tools. Researchers also revealed that Narat's name was engraved on a fallen obelisk near the main entrance. Previously unknown to researchers, Naert was a wife of Teti , the first king of the sixth dynasty. In November 2021, archeologists from Cairo University discovered several tombs, including that of Batah-M-Woya, chief treasurer during

4824-436: The surrounding areas of Abusir and Dahshur suffered damage by looters during the 2011 Egyptian protests . Store rooms were broken into, but the monuments were mostly unharmed. During routine excavations in 2011 at the dog catacomb in Saqqara necropolis, an excavation team led by Salima Ikram and an international team of researchers led by Paul Nicholson of Cardiff University uncovered almost eight million animal mummies at

4896-425: The tomb of vizier Merefnebef with a funerary chapel decorated with multi-colored reliefs, which was uncovered in 1997. as well as the tomb of courtier Nyankhnefertem uncovered in 2003. The expedition also explored two necropoles. Archaeologists revealed several dozen graves of noblemen from the period of the 6th Dynasty , dating to the 24th–21st century BC, and 500 graves of indigent people dating approximately to

4968-456: The tomb owner seated at an offerings table", reported Megahed. Some paintings maintained their brightness over a long time in the tomb. Mainly made of white limestone bricks, the tomb had a tunnel entrance generally typical for pyramids. Archaeologists say that there might be a connection between Khuwy and pharaoh because the mausoleum was found near the pyramid of Egyptian Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi , who ruled during that time. In October 2019,

5040-566: Was at Abydos . The first royal burials at Saqqara, comprising underground galleries, date to the early Second Dynasty reigns of Hotepsekhemwy , Raneb and Nynetjer . This is followed by a hiatus, with Seth-Peribsen and Khasekhemwy , the last Second Dynasty king, both buried in Abydos. Khasekhemwy may nonetheless also have built a funerary monument at Saqqara consisting of a large rectangular enclosure, known as Gisr el-Mudir , although this enclosure could also belong to Nynetjer. It probably inspired

5112-515: Was buried as pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Other important tombs belong to the vizier Aperel , the vizier Neferronpet , the artist Thutmose , and the wet-nurse of Tutankhamun , Maia . Many monuments from earlier periods were still standing, but dilapidated by this period. Prince Khaemweset , son of Pharaoh Ramesses II , made repairs to buildings at Saqqara. Among other things, he restored

5184-461: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and

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